Anish Kapoor

A month away from the Grand Opening, the Prologue to the inaugural exhibition The end of the World begins: an important backdrop of collaborations which presents some emblematic works from the collection in prestigious institutional locations in the region.

At the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato the work of Anish Kapoor, Here and There (1987), will be presented, acquired on the occasion of the inaugural exhibition of the Pecci Centre (Europe Today, curated by Amnon Barzel in 1988).

The location
The Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato is linked to the artefacts and contents which present: the meteorites, the minerals and the genetic processes that led to their formation, with particular regard to the birth and evolution of the Solar System and its planets.
The main purpose of the museum is to play a role of "cultural mediation", spreading (on different levels of complexity) the most advanced scientific knowledge of disciplines ranging from astrophysics and astronomy to planetary geology and mineralogy. The exhibition space is divided into six thematic sections (Universe and Solar System, chondritic meteorites, differentiated meteorites, hot and cold deserts, processes of impacts, and minerals) and presents the two principal collections of the museum: one of meteorites and impact rocks, the other of minerals.
The research activity of the museum is devoted to the study and characterisation of materials such as: meteorites, tektites, impact rocks and minerals; and to the study of the consequences of impacts on Earth of large interplanetary bodies.

Prologue - The End of the World
La fine del mondo

A selection of exemplary works of contemporary art from the collection of the Pecci Centre in Prato serves as an introduction and "frame" for The End of the World exhibition, curated by the director Fabio Cavallucci for the reopening to the public of the renovated cultural institution in Prato.

Collected over three decades of artistic activity, their presentation is curated by the conservator of the Centre Stefano Pezzato, the works are on display for the occasion in some of the most prestigious institutional centres in the region.

The six major works coming from the Centro Pecci collection - works by renowned Italian and foreign artists of the second half of the twentieth century - form a diverse yet eloquent sampling of contemporary artistic proposals related to the central theme of the "state of uncertainty which prevails in our world", and are inserted and therefore related to different contexts of human knowledge such as literature review and scientific research, in particular pre-history, zoology, astronomy, physics, geometry and technology.